Golf ALH Relay: Always On in Cold Weather

Hello, I've noticed for some time that a relay is constantly clicking when accelerating from a cold start (presumably in the box under the steering wheel).
What could it be? Is it normal for it to shift gears frequently, or is it normal to hear it making that much noise?


Sure, no problem! Here's the translation:

'Thank you in advance!'

Thorsten.

totto2k wrote:

Hello, I've noticed for some time that when accelerating from a cold start, a relay constantly clicks (presumably in the box under the steering wheel). What could that be? Is it normal that it shifts gears frequently, or is it normal that you can hear it so loudly?

Hi Thorsten,

If it's always clicking around 2500 rpm, it's likely the glow plug relay.
The afterglow is interrupted above 2500 rpm, and resumes below 2500 rpm.
The ALH continues to glow "for a very long time."

Thank you for the response.
It helped me a lot. The thing about the speed is roughly correct.
I'll pay attention to whether I'm really letting it cool down long enough, or if I'm rushing things, because maybe that's making it worse.

Greetings,
Thorsten.

totto2k wrote:

I'll pay attention to whether I'm really letting it cool down long enough, or if I'm being too hasty, maybe it will get worse because of that...

That has nothing to do with preheating.
The afterglow function may activate depending on the engine temperature, even when preheating is not actually necessary.

Hi,

You should try not to rev the cold engine above 2500 RPM, ideally not above 1500-2000 RPM. This will prevent the relay from clicking, and the engine will be happier too.

Best regards,

Jan.

Okay, so I usually don't rev a cold engine above 2,000 RPM (except for gasoline engines, which can handle a bit more when cold; ours, being small, gets to 2,500 RPM), but I wouldn't shift below that.

Best regards, WarLord.

Okay, let's check on it tomorrow morning. I'll try to keep it at 2000 [units - assuming a temperature or pressure reading] until it reaches 90 degrees.

Thanks, guys!

Thorsten.